The Cost of Discipleship

“Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!” (Matthew 5:10 TEV)

We are called to bear the sins of others, just as Jesus bore our sins. We bear the sins of others when we forgive them, regardless of what their sin costs us. We bear the sins of others when we’re willing to pick them up and carry them home, even if it means we will have to sacrifice for helping them.

Were the divine privileges Jesus gave up to bear the costs of your sins worth more than bringing you home to the Father? Of course not! Jesus knows you are worth every bit of his sacrifice.

We pay a cost when we help others find freedom in Christ. Bearing the sins of others, even when it means suffering and rejection, is one of the ways we become like Christ.

The truth is, as we follow Jesus down the narrow path, he will lovingly and ruthlessly place us on the anvil of his grace and then hammer us into the shape of Christ. Jesus became the Christ because he was rejected and suffered, and for us to become his disciples — to become like Christ — we must share in his suffering and rejection.

Think it over –

How does the fear of rejection keep us from becoming more like Jesus?

Matthew 5:10 says, “Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires” (TEV). What is your response to persecution?

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